In-line skates comprise boot portion for receipt of the user's foot. A wheel frame, which supports at least two tandem wheels, is interconnected to a lower surface of the boot. In-line skates have become popular recreational equipment and are often used as an alternative to roller skates. Furthermore, in-line skates are preferred by floor or roller hockey enthusiasts who seek an ice hockey experience. However, many players find it difficult to slow and stop in the same manner and fashion as experienced in ice skating when wearing in-line skates.
Most in-line skates employ a brake pad on the aft end of the frame and/or boot. To stop, the user tilts his or her toe upwardly, which rotates the boot about the rearmost wheel and places the brake pad in contact with the ground. As one of skill in the art will appreciate, pad-to-ground contact generates a friction load that slows and eventually stops forward motion. Brake pads work well to stop forward motion, but cannot slow or stop a user when his or her boots are moving laterally, i.e., when attempting to make a turning stop often performed while playing ice hockey, or participating in other in-line skate activities. Further, using such brakes is awkward as the user must shift his or her body weight rearwardly in such a way to place the pad in contact with the ground. Over-rotation will cause the user to fall, which could cause serious injury.
To address this latter issue, some in-line skates employ handbrakes similar to those used in bicycles that comprise a pad that contacts a portion of at least one wheel of the in-line skate. For example, U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2004/0207163 to Smyler discloses a handbrake that contacts a rear wheel to reduce the forward velocity. The system is unusable for floor or roller hockey players because they require both hands to hold a hockey stick.
Other in-line skates employ disc brakes as disclosed in WIPO Publication No. 2008/082675 to Lin, which discloses a device that includes a mechanism that interconnects above the user's ankle wherein the user must tilt rearwardly to actuate the brake. These devices suffer the same drawbacks of over-rotation and potential injury described above. Still other in-line skates include a toe-actuated brake as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,387 to Colla. These braking devices add complexity and cost to the in-line skate and are not intuitive to use, especially to those who are accustomed to slowing or stopping as they do when using ice skates.
It is a long felt need to provide an in-line skate braking device that allows for ease of braking while not adding complexity to the in-line skate or by requiring the user to use his or her hands. The following disclosure describes an improved braking device that allows the user to slow and stop while turning as commonly performed by ice hockey players, and to make in-line skating safer and more enjoyable for other enthusiasts.